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arXiv · cond-mat/0305063

Interface superconductivity in the eutectic Sr2RuO4-Ru: 3-K phase of Sr2RuO4

Abstract

The eutectic system Sr2RuO4-Ru is referred to as the 3-K phase of the spin-triplet supeconductor Sr2RuO4 because of its enhanced superconducting transition temperature Tc of ~3 K. We have investigated the field-temperature (H-T) phase diagram of the 3-K phase for fields parallel and perpendicular to the ab-plane of Sr2RuO4, using out-of-plane resistivity measurements. We have found an upturn curvature in the Hc2(T) curve for H // c, and a rather gradual temperature dependence of Hc2 close to Tc for both H // ab and H // c. We have also investigated the dependence of Hc2 on the angle between the field and the ab-plane at several temperatures. Fitting the Ginzburg-Landau effective-mass model apparently fails to reproduce the angle dependence, particularly near H // c and at low temperatures. We propose that all of these charecteric features can be explained, at least in a qualitative fashion, on the basis of a theory by Sigrist and Monien that assumes surface superconductivity with a two-component order parameter occurring at the interface between Sr2RuO4 and Ru inclusions. This provides evidence of the chiral state postulated for the 1.5-K phase by several experiments.

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Hiroshi Yaguchi, Masahiko Wada, Takashi Akima, Yoshiteru Maeno, Takehiko Ishiguro. 2003-05-04. Interface superconductivity in the eutectic Sr2RuO4-Ru: 3-K phase of Sr2RuO4. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.67.214519

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